1st Issue Fetish – The Terrifics #1 by Reis and Lemire (DC Comics)

Spinning out of DC Comics’ DARK NIGHTS: METAL event, as well as the publisher’s THE NEW AGE OF HEROES initiative (which is the launching pad for a number of all-new series featuring all-new characters or traditionally underused characters) comes THE TERRIFICS.

This new series stars the super-genius Mr. Terrific, the now Nth-metallic Metamorpho, the funny and ever-elastic Plastic Man, and the intangible Phantom Girl. They are a newly-formed team of unlikely allies and must rely on one another to make their way back home. Bound together by fate — literally by a tragic accident — and united by the spirit of exploration and hope for tomorrow. A startling revelation on their return trip brings them face-to-face with a new mystery. What is that mystery? Well, let’s just say the last page has a cameo by a certain Doc Savage-inspired action hero who’s lost somewhere in the known/unknown universe.

This first issue is a throw-you-in-the-middle-of-it, straight-ahead comic that sets the stage nicely for what looks to be an action-packed cosmic, inter-dimensional, portal-propelled, mutltiverse misadventure series. It’s got a few tropes borrowed from Marvel Comics’ classic first family comic, the FANTASTIC FOUR (only with less bickering).

I don’t think anyone would call this a ground-breaking first issue, though. And it’s not the collection of second-and-third-string characters that are the problem. It’s just the paint it by-the-numbers plot, when you would think a comic with a cosmic, weird-science-y concept and premise like this one would have a more epic feel to it. Additionally the plot moves too swift for any deep character work (which I concede can be typical of first issues). Still, the issue does manage to be entertaining even if ultimately a little underwhelming.

My overall impression is that with a little more seasoning I think DC and storytellers Ivan Reis and Jeff Lemire could have a sleeper hit series on their hands, but only if they truly develop the characters and ramp-up the epicness of the plots.